William Alden explains that Shiela Bair, former Chair and board member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, has joined the board of the Spanish bank Banco Santander. She left the FDIC in 2011 and said the next year in her book about the financial crisis that “I would like to see financial regulation be viewed as a lifelong career choice – similar to the Foreign Service – rather than a revolving door to a better-paying job in the private sector. … There should be a lifetime ban on regulators working for financial institutions they have regulated.” Santander is headquartered in Spain, but according to Alden, "has extensive operations in the United States, with $50 billion in deposits and 705 branches. That division is supervised by the F.D.I.C. in a back-up capacity. The company also owns a bank in Puerto Rico that is regulated by the F.D.I.C. and local authorities."
